This invention relates generally to vehicle rearview mirror systems and, more particularly, to exterior mirror systems that are adapted to provide rearward vision during parking maneuvers.
Conventional exterior mirrors of a vehicle are not of much assistance to the driver when reversing the vehicle into tight spaces. The reason is that the exterior mirrors are typically adjusted in order to provide vision directly rearwardly of the vehicle. During parking maneuvers, including rearwardly maneuvering of the vehicle into a parking space, it would be desirable to be able to observe, through the rearview mirrors, impediments to the side of the vehicle including adjacent vehicles, elevated curbs, posts, and the like.
One solution to providing vision to the side of a vehicle during reversing maneuvers is the power tilt mirror. A power tilt mirror responds to the vehicle being placed in a reverse gear mode by rotating the exterior mirror, or mirrors, about a horizontal axis to a downwardly tilted orientation. This allows the driver to observe areas to the side of the vehicle rather than areas principally to the rear of the vehicle. The tilting of the mirror may be accomplished by a separate tilt mechanism provided specifically for the power tilt function or may be provided by programming the memory function of a conventional remote positioning device to respond to the vehicle being placed in reverse gear by going in the downward tilt memory position. A power tilt exterior mirror is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,671 issued to Kaspar for an OUTSIDE REAR-VIEW MIRROR FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE HAVING A REVERSE GEAR.
The difficulty with such power tilt mirror is that the driver is unable to observe objects at the side of the vehicle at night. The reason is that the side of the vehicle is not illuminated at night when the vehicle is being operated. Although vehicles are equipped with backing lights which illuminate the rear of the vehicle during backing maneuvers, such lights do not adequately illuminate objects at the side of the vehicle. Therefore, the power tilt mirror has not achieved its intended object of providing visual assistance to the driver of a vehicle who is rearwardly maneuvering a vehicle, at night, into a parking space.